Category: NIOSH-funded Research

Support for Existing Expertise: Community-focused training initiatives to improve the safety and health of Tribal buffalo herd workers

American bison, also known as buffalo, are the largest land mammal in North America and are perfectly adapted to the harsh landscape of the high plains, capable of surviving extreme winters, vast changes in temperature, drought conditions, high humidity, and many diseases that impact other hoofed mammals. In recent decades, indigenous communities across North America Read More >

Posted on by Mystera M. Samuelson, Arlo Iron Cloud Sr., Lisa Iron Cloud, KC Elliott, Jessica Post, Risto Rautiainen, Ellen Duysen, and John Gibbins1 Comment

Nonfatal Occupational Injury Surveillance Data: Examples from Michigan

The importance of developing a tracking system for occupational fatalities, injuries and illnesses was recognized in the original Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970. The Secretary of Labor at that time elected to delegate responsibility to collect, compile, and analyze occupational safety and health statistics. Despite the authority in the OSH Act to Read More >

Posted on by Kenneth D. Rosenman, MD; Mary Jo Reilly, MS; and Ling Wang, PhD

Family Farms: When Working From Home Can Put Children at Risk

Agriculture ranks among the most hazardous industries for workers,[1] but since many farms share work and home spaces, it is also one of the few industries in which family members are also at risk for fatal and nonfatal injuries. Every day, 33 children in the United States are seriously injured in agricultural-related incidents, and every Read More >

Posted on by Florence Becot and KC Elliott, MA, MPH1 Comment

The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank: Advancing Research and Treatment

The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank (NMVB) is a virtual biospecimen tissue biorepository that was developed in 2006 at the University of Pittsburgh in partnership with a network of sites in the mid-Atlantic region.  It was created to assist researchers and healthcare professionals better understand and treat malignant mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive, and Read More >

Posted on by Chris Garner and Susan Copelli1 Comment

Evaluation of the Characteristics of Workers Injured on the Job Requiring Hospitalization and Employer Compliance with OSHA’s Reporting Requirement for these Work-Related Hospitalizations

  Surveillance data is essential to identify and target prevention for all public health activity. Accurate and timely surveillance data are needed to identify causes of injury and illnesses, monitor prevention activity, plan interventions and evaluate the efficacy of these interventions. Unlike general public health surveillance, employers are a potential source of work-related injuries and Read More >

Posted on by Kenneth D. Rosenman, MD; Mary Jo Reilly, MS; and Ling Wang, PhD

NIOSH Education and Research Centers: Research

As discussed in a previous NIOSH Science Blog, NIOSH Education and Research Centers: Training, there are 18 NIOSH-funded Education and Research Centers (ERCs) that engage in meaningful research, training, and outreach activities across 17 states. In honor of the 45th anniversary of the ERCs, this blog will highlight research activities conducted by the ERCs. The Read More >

Posted on by Negar Omid, PhD and Michelle McDaniel, BS, CHES

ERCs Partner to Offer Webinar Series on Human Factors and Ergonomics and Industrial Hygiene

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the NIOSH Education and Research Centers (ERC) which are extramurally funded university-based centers that carry out multidisciplinary education and research training activities and offer graduate and postgraduate training in the core and allied fields of occupational safety and health. The ERCs serve as a resource for our nation’s Read More >

Posted on by Mitchel Rosen and Michelle Meyer1 Comment

30 Years of the NIOSH Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Program

  As NIOSH celebrates half a century of work in occupational safety and health, the Institute’s Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (AgFF) Program reflects on 30 years of research and outreach designed to protect the people who produce our nation’s food and fiber. The AgFF Program began in response to a rise of farmer safety concerns Read More >

Posted on by Marcy Harrington, MPA; Amanda Wickman, MBA; Donjanea Williams, EdD; and Jennifer M. Lincoln, PhD6 Comments

Lifejackets for Lobstermen

  Falls overboard are the most frequent cause of death on the job for lobstermen in the U.S. The on-the-job death rate for fishermen nationwide is 31 times higher than any other industry. It is well-documented that wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) can help prevent these tragedies, but unfortunately most fishermen do not routinely Read More >

Posted on by Julie Sorensen, Rebecca Weil, Jessica Echard, Amanda Roome, and Erin Lally3 Comments

Lung Disease in Textile Workers

This blog is part of a series for NIOSH’s 50th anniversary highlighting research and prevention throughout the Institute’s history. Background Since the 1970s, NIOSH has worked to prevent illness from cotton dust. Byssinosis is an airways disease with features of both asthma and COPD that occurs with exposure to cotton dust. In the early 1970s, Read More >

Posted on by David C. Christiani, MD, MPH, SM3 Comments

Lighting Interventions to Reduce Circadian Disruption in Rotating Shift Workers

  Shift work has been linked to poor sleep, chronic metabolic disorders (e.g., cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity), several forms of cancer [1-3], depression, and elevated risk for the occurrence of accidents. These risks are especially acute for those who work rotating shifts that involve working through the night [4-8], as sometimes occur in hospitals. Read More >

Posted on by Mariana G. Figueiro, PhD, and David Pedler

Introducing an Occupational Health Resource: The Occupational Noise Job Exposure Matrix

Introduction Noise-induced hearing loss is highly prevalent in the U.S., and noise is increasingly being linked to other non-auditory health effects such as cardiovascular disease, sleep disturbance, and stress. However, our knowledge of noise exposures associated with many U.S. occupations is lacking. To address this issue, researchers used existing resources to develop a first-of-its-kind Job Read More >

Posted on by Rick Neitzel, PhD, CIH and CAPT Chucri (Chuck) A. Kardous, MS, PE5 Comments

FACE Investigations Make Recommendations to Improve the Safety of New Types of Robots

U.S. companies are installing robots in record numbers (1). These include traditional industrial robots separated from human workers by cages and cells, as well as emerging robotics technologies that include robots designed to work alongside and in the same space as human workers. From a health and safety perspective, the proliferation of robotics technologies across Read More >

Posted on by Todd Schoonover, PhD; Christina Rappin; Randy Clark; Stephanie Stevens, MA; and Dawn Castillo, MPH2 Comments

Extramural Spotlight: Airline Pilot Mental Health

In March 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people onboard. An investigation found that the copilot deliberately steered the plane into the mountainside. It also revealed that he had a history of depression. Among workers, untreated depression can affect the ability to perform tasks and—as the Germanwings incident shows—in Read More >

Posted on by Alexander C. Wu, ScD, MPH11 Comments

Farm Dinner Theater

It is not new news that agriculture has excessive worker injury rates. Nor that senior farmers and adult farmers in the South experience some of the highest occupational injury and mortality in the nation. There were an estimated 58,385 work-related adult farm injuries (more than six every hour) in 2014. In 2016, 417 farmers and Read More >

Posted on by Julie Tisdale-Pardi, MA and Deborah Reed, PhD7 Comments

Research Day 2016 Brings Together Students, Alumni, and Professionals

The 8th Annual Occupational and Environmental Health Research Day took place on March 3rd with a record number of almost 200 attendees.  Research Day is a yearly tradition, showcasing innovative graduate student research in occupational and environmental health and safety, as well as highlighting alumni experiences and connecting community members working in health and safety to students and Read More >

Posted on by Jana Gurkin2 Comments

Preventing Wood Chipper Fatalities

  Last week, a 19-year-old North Carolina teen was killed after being pulled feet first into a wood chipper (see news report).  It was his first day on the job. Self-feeding mobile wood chippers commonly used during tree trimming operations consist of a feed mechanism, knives mounted on a rotating chipper disc or drum, and Read More >

Posted on by Dawn Castillo, MPH; CAPT Cheryl F. Estill, PhD; and Robert Harrison, MD13 Comments

FACE Investigation Documents Factors Contributing to a Worker’s Death Inside Pressure Cooker

  The headlines a few weeks ago were alarming. The tragic death of a worker in a 270-degree oven three years ago led to a $6 million agreement to settle criminal charges in what Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey said was the largest payout in a California workplace death (see news report). The California Read More >

Posted on by Robert Harrison, MD, and Laura Styles, MPH3 Comments

Palm Tree Worker Suffocated by Palm Fronds – Another Death in California

  On August 13, 2015, another worker was suffocated by palm fronds in California (see news report). This is at least the fourth similar fatality since the California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program (CA/FACE) program issued a report and video on this hazard in February 2014. The drought in the Western U.S. may have Read More >

Posted on by Robert Harrison, MD29 Comments

Improving the Safety and Health of Bison Handlers

  Recent media reports of bison injuring visitors at Yellowstone National Park have raised public awareness of the hazards of interacting with bison. Those who work with these animals face unique risks. Bison are the largest land mammals in North America, weighing in at about 1,000-2,000 pounds.1 They can run 35 miles per hour and Read More >

Posted on by Kelsey Palm, Ellen Duysen, Risto Rautiainen, Clayton Kelling1 Comment